The deposition of a plug of sperm or other gelatinous material into the opening of the vulva by a male at the termination of copulation. Probably acts to prevent subsequent matings by other males.

All of the contents of a cell excluding the plasma membrane and nucleus, but including other subcellular structures.

A compound membranous cytoplasmic organelle of eukaryotic cells, consisting of flattened, ribosome-free vesicles arranged in a more or less regular stack. The Golgi apparatus differs from the endoplasmic reticulum in often having slightly thicker membranes, appearing in sections as a characteristic shallow semicircle so that the convex side (cis or entry face) abuts the endoplasmic reticulum, secretory vesicles emerging from the concave side (trans or exit face). In vertebrate cells there is usually one such organelle, while in invertebrates and plants, where they are known usually as dictyosomes, there may be several scattered in the cytoplasm. The Golgi apparatus processes proteins produced on the ribosomes of the rough endoplasmic reticulum; such processing includes modification of the core oligosaccharides of glycoproteins, and the sorting and packaging of proteins for transport to a variety of cellular locations. Three different regions of the Golgi are now recognized both in terms of structure and function: cis, in the vicinity of the cis face, trans, in the vicinity of the trans face, and medial, lying between the cis and trans regions.

An extracellular matrix consisting mainly of proteins (especially collagen) and glycosaminoglycans (mostly as proteoglycans) that provides not only essential physical scaffolding for the cellular constituents but can also initiate crucial biochemical and biomechanical cues required for tissue morphogenesis, differentiation and homeostasis. The components are secreted by cells in the vicinity and form a sheet underlying or overlying cells such as endothelial and epithelial cells.